05 Jan 2018

EUROPEAN COMMISSION DAILY NEWS – 05 JANUARY

MAIN NEWS

Ahead of the College debate on the European Union’s long-term budget, the Commissioner for Budget and Human resources, Günther H. Oettinger launches a High-Level conference on “Shaping Our Future – Designing the Next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)”, which is hosted by the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), the Commission’s in-house think tank on 8 and 9 January. This conference opens the final stretch of preparing the next multi annual financial framework, before the Leaders’ informal meeting in February and the Commission’s proposal which will be presented in May 2018. The full programme and the list of the high-profile speakers including, from the Commission, President Jean-Claude Juncker, Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competition, Jyrki Katainen and Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Crețu can be found here. The conference will take place in the Commission’s Charlemagne building. Registrations are now closed but accredited journalists can register on the day of the conference and the event can be followed online on EbS. During the conference, you can share your views by using the hashtag #EUBudget on Twitter.

Commissioner Stylianides to meet with Ministers of Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium on rescEU, the EU’s civil protection proposal

Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides meets today with the Interior Minister of Luxembourg, Mr Dan Kersch. He will subsequently travel to the Netherlands to meet with the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security, Mr Ferdinand Grapperhaus, on 8 January, before meeting the Belgian Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Security and Home Affairs in charge of Urban Policy and State Buildings, Mr Jan Jambon, on 9 January. During the meetings the Commissioner will present and discuss rescEU, the Commission’s ambitious new plan to strengthen Europe’s ability to deal with natural disasters. A more robust civil protection mechanism will enable the EU to better support all Member States in responding to natural and man-made disasters. The Commission proposal was announced on 23 November 2017 and focuses on two strands of action: 1) Strengthening European response capacities: rescEU and 2) Stepping up disaster prevention and preparedness. The proposal also aims to simplify administrative procedures in order to reduce the time needed to deploy life-saving assistance.

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.4% in December 2017, down from 1.5% in November 2017, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Full text available here

Eurostat: November 2017 compared with October 2017 – Industrial producer prices up by 0.6% in both euro area and EU28

In November 2017, compared with October 2017, industrial producer prices rose by 0.6% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In October 2017, prices increased by 0.4% in both zones. Full text available here